Providence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) by 52.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,389 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,668 shares during the period. Providence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in F5 Networks were worth $2,387,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its stake in F5 Networks by 326.9% during the second quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 39,700 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $5,860,000 after purchasing an additional 30,400 shares during the last quarter. Investec Asset Management LTD boosted its stake in F5 Networks by 1.0% during the second quarter. Investec Asset Management LTD now owns 126,695 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $18,451,000 after buying an additional 1,232 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in F5 Networks by 15.8% during the first quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 38,847 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $6,095,000 after acquiring an additional 5,314 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in F5 Networks by 12.9% during the first quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,024 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $314,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of F5 Networks in the first quarter valued at $166,000. 94.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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FFIV stock traded up $1.44 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $142.32. The company had a trading volume of 352,206 shares, compared to its average volume of 629,167. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.79, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.06. F5 Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $121.36 and a 52-week high of $199.71. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $134.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $147.19.

F5 Networks (NASDAQ:FFIV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The network technology company reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.04 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $563.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $556.15 million. F5 Networks had a net margin of 21.03% and a return on equity of 36.33%. F5 Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.44 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that F5 Networks, Inc. will post 8.22 earnings per share for the current year.

In related news, EVP Chad Michael Whalen sold 297 shares of F5 Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.63, for a total transaction of $37,906.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,331 shares in the company, valued at $169,875.53. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas Dean Fountain sold 260 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.50, for a total value of $33,930.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $265,828.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,955 shares of company stock valued at $1,821,889. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BidaskClub upgraded shares of F5 Networks from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays began coverage on shares of F5 Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $160.00 price target on the stock. Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of F5 Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Credit Suisse Group raised their price objective on shares of F5 Networks from $188.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of F5 Networks from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. The stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $162.66.

F5 Networks Profile

F5 Networks, Inc develops, markets, and sells application delivery networking products that optimize the security, performance, and availability of network applications, servers, and storage systems. The company's primary application delivery technology is Traffic Management Operating System (TMOS) that enable company's products to intercept, inspect, and act on the contents of traffic from virtually each type of Internet Protocol-enabled application.